Jane Adams (actress, born 1965)

Early life and education

Jane Adams is the daughter of Janice, an administrative assistant, and William Adams, an engineer. She attended the University of Washington, where she studied political science, and the Cornish College of the Arts, where she took theater. She attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division (1985–1989, Group 18) where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1989.

Career

Adams performed theatre at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. She turned down the chance to work in the hit movie Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg for the opportunity to work with Arthur Miller onstage.

She worked with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton in Father of the Bride Part II. She returned to the stage and won the 1994 Tony Award for best performance by a featured actress in a play for the Broadway revival of An Inspector Calls. She also won the Outer Critics Circle Award for best debut performance in a play in the Broadway production of Paul Rudnick's I Hate Hamlet.

In 1996, Adams portrayed Karen Lukens in the ABC-TV drama series Relativity. In 1998, she starred in the misanthropic dark comedy Happiness with Philip Seymour Hoffman, playing the role of Joy, a sensitive single woman who is struggling with life. She and the cast won many ensemble awards. The next year, Adams got a recurring role on the comedy series Frasier from 1999 to 2000. She played Dr. Mel Karnofsky, who became Niles Crane's second wife. She also had a role in the 1999 film Mumford.

In 2001, she acted in the independent film Songcatcher, with Janet McTeer, which won a Sundance Special Jury Prize. She also portrayed Reeva Baines Eidenberg in the CBS drama series Citizen Baines. Adams has also acted in mainstream films such as You've Got Mail (1998), Wonder Boys (2000), Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), and Last Holiday (2006). In 2007, she appeared in The Sensation of Sight and The Brave One.

From 2009 to 2011, Adams co-starred in the HBO series Hung opposite Thomas Jane. She starred in and co-wrote the 2012 film All the Light in the Sky with director Joe Swanberg. This performance earned her the Best Actress award at the Nashville Film Festival.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Jacobs, Jill. (June 27, 2009). "All 'Hung' Up". [[New York Post]].
2. Schneller, Johanna. (September 29, 2016). "On Easy, the plight of the 'not really beautiful'". [[Toronto Star]].
3. Boone, Ashley. (August 30, 2020). "Jane Adams: 'This whole idea of stay safe – life's never been safe'". [[The Independent]].
4. "Janice Adams Obituary - Seattle, WA | The Seattle Times".
5. (March 2010). "Alumni News". [[The Juilliard School]].
6. "Jane Adams biography". [[The New York Times]].
7. "Awards for 1990-1991". Outer Critics Circle.
8. "'Mumford' (R)".
9. (2011). "Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010". McFarland & Company, Inc..
10. Arnold, Joel. (2013-12-20). "For An Actress In Eclipse, 'All The Light' She Can Grasp". NPR.org.
11. (September 26, 2011). "'I got lucky,' says Jane Adams". The Evening Sun.
12. "I Hate Hamlet (Broadway, 1991)".
13. "The Crucible (Broadway, 1992)".
14. "The Glass Menagerie".
15. "An Inspector Calls (Broadway, 1994)".
16. "Enchanted April (Broadway, 2003)".
17. "Match (Broadway, 2004)".
18. "Resurrection Blues".
19. Kuchwara, Michael. (13 June 1994). "AIDS play and 'Passion' win big Tonys". Gannett Pacific.